Zombieland Title Sequence Analysis

The sequence starts with an American flag and an announcement saying ‘I’d like to say this is America’, along with the American Anthem being played, the setting has been made clear, the USA. Then we can see a car on fire and many other disastrous aspects and so we can clearly see there’s been a disruption to the town. At this point, it’s clear the film will be filled with mayhem and disaster. The camera moves around with a shake, creating an edgy atmosphere, as the camera moves we can see more of the extent of damage, emphasising that the film will be consistent with this idea. The camera glitches and a zombie approaches, the camera is handheld and we are getting a POV shot. This amateur filming creates a realism too the film, even though zombies are fictional. The zombie then eats the cameraman, this is the first graphic scene we see and sets the tone of the film, as the audiences knows that scenes likes this will play throughout. The narrator then says ‘this is now the united states of zombie land’ which links with the title of the film and confirms that the Zombie problem is widespread. So, it’s already clear that there’s a zombie acopolypse. The globe is shown, again emphasising the widespread disaster. We are then given tips on how to survive a zombie apocalypse by the narrator. These tips are quite humorous, suggesting aspects of comedy throughout. The first is too be in shape, the second to ensure the zombie is killed, and the third is beware of bathrooms and the fourth to wear seatbelts. Even though they may make sense, the audience knows it’s part of the comedy genre too propose these rules and that they’re actually quite silly. Whilst the man is in the toilet, a zombie appears suddenly, which gives the audience a freight. Here, the audience get an idea that the film will be jumpy at some points. Commonly, title sequences don’t go into much depth like Zombieland however, we can see how this is important as it’s setting the tone and narrative clearly  without giving too much away. Aspects like gore and comedy are clear and emphasised through the first 3 minutes. The narrator then says ‘it’s gonna be a bumpy ride’ as if he is trying to prepare use for the film and we are going to feel a part of it. After this, there is 2 minutes of slow motion scenes of the zombies in action